


Room On The Third Floor

by TImeBomber



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Artist!Gerard - Freeform, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-06
Updated: 2013-10-06
Packaged: 2017-12-28 15:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/993604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TImeBomber/pseuds/TImeBomber
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank always managed to piss Gerard off by doing even the smallest things. Like that one time he put a door mat that read “Piss Off” at the foot of the flat entrance as a JOKE. Gerard didn’t find it funny. Or the time he collected all Gerard’s mail, sorted them out in to size order and shoved them under the door to his apartment. It would have been a kind gesture, if Gerard knew they were there and didn’t storm in to his apartment that day, crushing all his mail. </p><p>Just a little fic about Gerard, a grumpy artist, and Frank, the 'annoying' punk who lives two floors beneath Gerard. Love, old ladies and evil ten year olds included.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Room On The Third Floor

**Author's Note:**

> So I hope you guys like what I've written so far! If so don't forget to leave a comment letting me know what you think and if you want me to upload more.  
> Thank you! (The title is from the McFly song Room On The Third Floor.)  
> xoxo  
> TimeBomber

The crispy autumn wind attacked the streets at all angles. Mini leaf tornados spun softly over the worn out, ashen pavements creating charming crunchy background noise. Their abstract colours contrasting beautifully against the dull, water colour backdrop of the city scene.

It was almost winter, Gerard’s favourite time of year. He adored the way the city looked blanketed in snow. Eaten by frost bite. Seeing the bright Christmas lights hung up around the city, twinkling magically in the dark, cloudless winter nights would always lighten up his nearly eternal bad mood.

He walked the streets at a quick and steady pace, trying to avoid the street walkers who would occasionally recognise him. “You’re that guy from the big art mural in the centre of town right? Wow your art is so great!” Some would say, genuinely impressed by the giant mural covering the side of a city’s second largest sky scraper. The mural that Gerard designed and painted all by himself. 

Others could be quite rude about it though. “Oh you’re the guy that I see every morning when I look out the window of my fifty story apartment complex. Yeah when are they gonna change that ‘cause I’m getting kind of sick of seeing your face every day?” Granted it was a stupid idea to put himself on his mural, but that was no reason for arrogant, well paid people to criticise him almost every other day.

Gerard was at least five blocks away from his apartment. His car had been stolen about three months prior and he didn’t have enough money to buy a new one. Believe it or not self-employed artist didn’t make as much money as you’d think. He didn’t really mind walking everywhere that much anymore, it gave him time to see new things appearing in the city that he never noticed when driving his car. Like, that fire hydrant that had been vandalized with breath-taking doodles of a zombie invasion. Or that the brand new phone box just around the corner of the art supply store, had already been cracked and vandalised. 

The time spent walking was also thinking time. ‘What should I have for dinner? Mac and cheese again? Sounds good!’ ‘What strange ‘food’ has Mrs Dapple made for me today?’ ‘Am I ever gonna find love?’. These were just some of the questions that ran through Gerard’s head as he got closer to his apartment building. 

It stood tall over the houses surrounding it. Looming and glooming, casting shadows on the family homes, full of fighting teens. And pensioners watching daytime TV, arguing over what era was best. The sixties or the fifties? 

It was a depressing neighbourhood to watch. Every day the same actions were reciprocated. Men in their late thirties would leave their homes at about 8:30, women standing in their doorways waving them good bye. Then about half an hour later the same women would be rushing their children out the front door, either in to a school bus or their family cars. The boring routine of the average grown up. 

Gerard liked to believe he didn’t have a daily routine to follow and that he wasn’t a grown up. He liked to think he was still in his early twenties, going to parties, meeting new people and not giving a crap about what the hell happened to him. It of course wasn’t true. He hardly ever went to parties anymore and barely ever met new people. It was just too much hassle. Starting up a completely pointless and mind numbing conversation with some stupid jack ass at some stupid night club seemed like such a waste of time now to Gerard. What’s the point when you know the person you’re talking to is only after one thing. Sex. Unromantic, unfulfilling sex. They never wanted the same as Gerard. To take it slow. To find love. So he just gave up on trying. 

He also left his house at ten pm every other morning to buy new art supplies and, in between those days attended a part time job at a book store. His routine that apparently didn’t exist. 

Gerard was approaching thirty and was almost content with his life, which suited him fine. Almost content was better than being a raging, self-destructive alcoholic that only cared about himself.

He walked up the steps to the entrance of his apartment building, rummaging for the key in his pocket. “Where are you?” He growled quietly at the untraceable key hiding in the depths of his pocket lint. 

“Here I am” Said a low voiced from behind the apartment door that had slowly started to open. “Why are you back so early from work today GeeGee?” chuckled the deep voice that agitated Gerard every time he heard it.

“Ugh! What do you want Frank? And how do you even know what time I get back from work?”

Frank always managed to piss Gerard off by doing even the smallest things. Like that one time he put a door mat that read “Piss Off” at the foot of the flat entrance as a JOKE. Gerard didn’t find it funny. Or the time he collected all Gerard’s mail, sorted them out in to size order and shoved them under the door to his apartment. It would have been a kind gesture, if Gerard knew they were there and didn’t storm in to his apartment that day, crushing all his mail.

“Oh GeeGee I never want anything from you. Well maybe a nice, romantic dinner date. And I know what time you get back from work because I keep track of your every move in my Gerard Journal.” Gerard would have found that funny if he didn’t think it was partly true.

“Frank could you please stop calling me GeeGee? My name is Gerard. I like being called Gerard.”

“You let Mikey call you Gee!” Frank was now pouting.

“Mikey is my brother. And how do you even know that!?” The annoyance in Gerard’s voice was pretty noticeable at that point. He’d had a long tiring day of helping old ladies find precise cooking books that would allow them to make the perfect cupcakes. He did not have the patience to deal with Frank’s childish banter. 

“Believe it or not GERARD, but I don’t spend all my time stalking you. I do have friends. It just so happens your brother is one of them.” Frank replied smugly.

“Whatever Frank. Have a nice day.” Gerard barged past Frank and headed for the stairs of the apartment. 

He didn’t get it. Why did Frank always insist on talking to him? He wasn’t a particularly funny person and he wasn’t that good at holding conversations. So he thought. He had always turned down Frank’s ‘Romantic dinner dates’, which were offered to him at least twice a week. 

Gerard always complained about never finding a decent person who would take him out to the movies, walk him home afterwards and kiss him good night, like in all the teen flicks he’d seen. When that kind of person was living two floors down from him. Maybe he just never noticed. 

As Gerard trudged grumpily up the stairs, he heard the faint sound of humming floating into his ears. This only meant one thing; Mrs Dapple was cooking. As soon as he registered this fact, he began taking the stairs two at a time to try and avoid confrontation with the cute little crazy lady who lives on his floor. 

It wasn’t that Gerard disliked Mrs Dapple, it’s just she was a terrible cook. She also insisted that Gerard was ‘far too skinny’ and that he ‘must take this fish and gravy pie, or you’ll be as thin as a sheet of paper’. At least she cared.  
Due to Gerard drifting away into thoughts of savage pie fillings, he didn’t realise who was standing at the top of the stair well. 

“Mr Gerrrrrard”

‘Why do you hate me God’ Gerard thought as he approached the four foot menace that was Casey. “Hey there! Urm I’d love to stay and chat with you again today, but I really must be –“

“Where do babies come from?” She interrupted, feigning innocence. Acting as if she was asking the question out of genuine curiosity and not just to wind Gerard up. 

“I don’t know?” Gerard also tried playing innocent as well, but it was no use.

“Liar!” Casey shouted whilst pointing an accusing finger at Gerard. It was then that he conceded.

“Casey, if I give you five bucks will you leave me alone” 

The ten year olds face twisted into a sly smirk as she nodded smoothly. Gerard really did hate kids. 

“Here, take this and leave me alone. Please?” Gerard said whilst handing over the last of the money he had in his wallet. Shit.

“Thank you” Casey grinned. “Oh and by the way, I’m telling my mom that you’re a liar” She giggled whilst walking off down the hall way. 

So there was another reason Gerard hated everything. Maybe if he wasn’t so moody Casey would actually like him and not try to piss him off every day. 

‘She likes Frank’ He thought bitterly. “Oh but everybody likes Frank, don’t they” 

Just as Gerard was about to pull the key for his apartment out of his ancient skinny jeans, that could probably survive a nuclear attack, his front door swung open.

“Bumped into your boyfriend downstairs again did we?” Mikey giggled whilst leaning against the door frame of his brothers abode. “Don’t worry Gee, I’m sure that if you keep acting like an asshole towards him he’ll leave you alone.” 

“Frank is not my boyfriend” Gerard grunted, pushing his younger sibling to the side. “He told me that you two already know each other. How cute.” 

“Oh piss off Gerard. You’re just jealous that I have more than three friends. One of which, may I add, is our mother.”

Gerard decided that he was going to ignore his brother in favour of having a shower. 

“There’s mac and cheese in fridge if you want anything to eat. Make sure you use the microwave instead of the cooker. I’d rather you did set fire to my kitchen again, yeah?” Gerard called before finally closing the door to his bathroom, finally relaxing a little bit.

‘Frigging people’ He thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Like I said before, if you want to, leave a comment letting me know what you think. :) Oh, and thank you to Kaili for giving this a little read through for me!


End file.
